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1995 Constitutional Conference: Abacha Almost Overthrown-Ofanogoro

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4 years ago

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Former Minister of Information and Culture during General Sani Abacha regime, Professor Walter Ofonagoro, says the ex-military leader was almost overthrown by ‘his boys’ during consultations on the adoption of the 1995 constitutional conference report.

The Imo State-born elder statesman, said Nigeria would not have been in its current challenges if Abacha had converted the report of the conference to a constitution.

Speaking in an interview with the Tribune, Ofonagoro said the constitutional conference attracted prominent Nigerians, hence, the document churned out by it was in the best interest of the country.

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He said : “I was the chairman of the committee that organised the constitutional conference elections in conjunction with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make sure that there was full participation in the conference and ensure that the West doesn’t boycott the elections so as not to sabotage the efforts of Abacha to get the country back to the civil rule.

“So I say okay, what do we do? How do we ensure that the election takes place when a whole region is determined not to participate in it? So we had to find a solution. In that case, there is no point in going through the normal process of using the voter›s card. So I said what we are going to do is universal adult suffrage, in which on the election day, everybody that is 18 years and above, queues up behind his candidate and we then count manually. And at the end of the process nobody went to court as they all saw transparency in the process.

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Oluwole Awolowo was at the conference. Even [Odumegwu] Ojukwu, who led the civil war, was there in person. Alex Ekwueme was also there. Virtually all the big wigs in the country then were at the conference and we sat down for one and a half years and drafted a constitution that would have saved Nigeria all the troubles we are going through now. But Abacha refused to sign the constitution into law after all our efforts in June, 1995.

“And from that time till 1998 that he died, Abacha did not sign the constitution. He was just seeking opinions from all kinds of people, while his own boys were at the same time planning a coup to remove him.”

Asked if that constitution had been signed, Nigeria won’t be in the current mess, Ofonagoro responded in affirmative.

Yes, if the 1995 constitutional conference reports had been signed into law, Nigeria will not be in the mess it is today. Abacha split Nigeria into six zones (three majority zones and three minority zones), not majority in numbers, but in language like the British, which has four tribes or nations. The Welsh have the Welsh language, while the English have the English language. Then, the Scots have the Scottish language, while the Irish take the Irish language. But four of them make up the United Kingdom or Great Britain. So they rule in four and rotate their leadership. So, if we are going to have a united federation, why force everybody to stay on one unit and concentrate all the powers at the centre, making one ethnic group to dominate the rest? You are simply asking for disaster; it will never work. We have done our best to produce the structures and documents. I took part in the designing of the presidency and the rest.

We have done our parts to make the Nigerian project work. But now, what we see is mass killings. Before, Nigeria used to be one of the most secured people in the world. But now, it is the opposite.

” If you look at the 1995 constitution, which Nigerians agreed to, we said for the six regions, give each of them autonomy, so as to make the federation work. Each of the regions should be allowed to control its own resources and then pool a part of the resources to the central government. And this is what everybody is hoping and ready for, ” he said.

 

 

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Nigeria, Türkiye Strike Defence Deal for Major Military Training Facility to Boost Security

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4 hours ago

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April 19, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Nigeria and Türkiye have agreed to establish a major military training facility in Nigeria as part of a defence partnership aimed at strengthening the country’s security architecture.

The agreement was reached during bilateral talks between Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, and his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026.

According to a statement on Sunday by the Ministry of Defence’s Chief Information Officer, Queeneth Iheoma-Hart, the planned training centre will serve as a long-term hub for capacity development, with Nigeria already identifying a suitable coastal location for the permanent facility.

She said a temporary site is also expected to be provided to kick-start operations.

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Under the arrangement, Nigerian Armed Forces personnel will undergo specialised training in areas such as Special Forces operations, counterterrorism, intelligence integration, counter-drone and counter-IED operations, as well as United Nations pre-deployment exercises.

The statement partly read, “The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (retd.), led a high-level Nigerian delegation to productive bilateral talks with the Turkish Minister of Defence at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026.

“The delegation included the Chief of the Air Staff, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy, the Defence Adviser and senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Nigerian Embassy in Türkiye.

“Training and capacity development: Türkiye proposed structured, scalable training programmes for Nigerian Armed Forces in areas including Special Forces operations, counterterrorism, intelligence integration, counter-drone and counter-IED operations, and UN pre-deployment training.

“Immediate deployment of an initial cohort to Türkiye was agreed, alongside Turkish language instruction and participation in field training exercises.

“Both parties agreed to establish a major military training facility in Nigeria as a long-term centre of excellence; Nigeria will provide a temporary training site and has identified a suitable coastal location for permanent infrastructure.”

Beyond training, she said the partnership includes provisions for technology transfer, defence industry collaboration, and co-development of military capabilities.

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Ex-Governor Shekarau Joins APC for Third Time, Cites PDP’s Challenges

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4 hours ago

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April 19, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

A former Kano State Governor, Sen. Ibrahim Shekarau, has dumped Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for All Progressives Congress, APC.

Available records show that he is joining the party for the third time since its formation.

Mr Shekarau announced the decision while addressing supporters at his Mundubawa residence in Kano on Sunday.

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The two-term former governor said that the decision followed wide consultations with his political group and after weighing so many options.

“We took the decision after wide deliberations and weighing several options which include joining the APC after realising that PDP is facing so many challenges.

“We cannot align with ADC, a party filled up with people of personal interests, a party struggling to gain its feet,” Mr Shekarau said.

He called on his supporters to formally resign their PDP membership from their wards and go to their APC leaders on how to register with the party in order to meet the deadline for registration.

Mr Shekarau is expected to communicate the date he will be leading his teeming supporters to visit his Giginyu ward in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state to carry out his APC party membership registration.

The APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, had, on April 8, visited Kano to plead with Shekarau to join the party and work for its victory in the 2027 general elections.

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JAMB Arrests Two, Parent over Result Falsification

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2026

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the arrest of two candidates and a parent for falsifying 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results using Artificial Intelligence and other electronic tools.

The disclosure came as the board released scores for 632,788 candidates who sat the examination on Thursday, April 16.

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JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, in a statement, said the suspects were apprehended for manipulating official SMS result notifications to fabricate or alter scores with the intent to deceive others, including parents and guardians.

“Currently, two candidates and one parent are in custody for engaging in result falsification using AI and other electronic means,” the statement read.

Benjamin warned that such conduct constituted a serious criminal offence and that the board would pursue all culpable persons to the full extent of the law.

He also cautioned candidates against tampering with result messages from JAMB’s official SMS platforms, 55019 and 66019.

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